Wallenius Wilhelmsen supports ship recycling transparency platform

17/12/2018

MARPRO Team

The Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative’s (SRTI) online platform for sharing information on shipping companies’ recycling policies and practices is launched. Having practiced responsible recycling for decades, Wallenius Wilhelmsen is proud to be a founding member of SRTI. Demanding transparency holds the shipping industry to account, raising the bar for current practice as well as creating fair competition among shipowners.

Shipowners will use the SRTI online platform to share information on their approaches to ship recycling across a set of comprehensive disclosure criteria. Customers and cargo owners, investors and financial stakeholders- as well as the broader public- will then be able to access and use this information to make informed decisions in regard to vessel recycling.

“The Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative empowers those who invest in or buy services from shipping companies to make informed decisions on vessel recycling. With the SRTI they can demand transparency, helping them ensure they do business with companies that recycle responsibly, rather than those who continue with practices that have horrifying human and environmental consequences. It is unthinkable that change won’t be driven with such knowledge. It also sends a clear signal to tonnage providers on the new normal,” says Craig Jasienski, President and CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Shipowners, ship recyclers and other stakeholders in the shipping value chain have different approaches to ship recycling ranging from the responsible to those with very negative social and environmental impacts. Information on these approaches has generally not been readily available, which has hampered the ability of investors to make informed decisions to mitigate risks when using ships as collateral for loans or when seeking financing for shipbuilding. Similiarly, it has made it difficult for cargo owners, who are under increasing pressure to take responsibility for their products’ entire supply chain, to ensure that they are not associated with carriers that do not recyle responsibly.

“Wallenius Wilhelmsen responsibly recycles vessels at craned berths and landing facilities which we pre-vet to ensure worker welfare and safety is front of mind, as well as to make certain materials are recycled and waste treated in an appropriate and traceable manner. We have a contracted representative on site to supervise the entire process, with the authority to stop work for safety, welfare or environmental reasons,” says Jasienski.